Following up on the acclaimed history of D.B. at Sebring,
Philippe Defechereux tells us what became of the French Legends.
By Philippe Defechereux Copyright 2008
What Happened to Deutsch-Bonnet ?
Early in 1962, a partnership that had lasted over twenty years and won so many laurels came apart. Charles Deutsch found out that in December of 1961, René Bonnet had signed a secret agreement to drive for Renault; he would lead a Renault-backed team at the 1962 Le Mans 24-Hours; the cars would be called “René Bonnets.†When Charles Deutsch made Panhard aware of that, they were incensed. Quickly, they hired the betrayed engineer to put together a team of five cars, to be called “C.D. Panhards.†The clear goal was to beat Equipe René Bonnet at Le Mans that very year. The Deutsch-Bonnet company, which from the earliest days had been founded on the basis of verbal agreements and handshakes, was effectively no more. As footnote, the C.D. Panhards beat the René Bonnets fair and square at the 1962 Le Mans race, winning both the Index of Performance and the 850cc class.
What Happened to Panhard?
When Panhard hired Charles Deutsch, the firm’s financial difficulties had turned from bad to worse. Despite the Le Mans success in June, things hardly improved. In 1955, Panhard had already been forced to negotiate an infusion of funds by Citroën, which thus acquired a 25 percent ownership of the company. Though Citroën agreed to distribute Panhard automobiles through their dealerships, the twin-chevron marque dealers were not enthusiastic sellers of their former rival’s cars.
A typical Panhard dealership in 1957 rural France.. The xx model seen here was powered by the same twin-cylinder boxer air-cooled engine as the 1952 Sebring barquettes. Courtesy Pierre Hodot.
Still, the Panhard people managed to design and build a new model, called PL17, which came out in 1959. Still powered by the venerable 850cc flat-twin, it proved popular and managed to grab the top three places overall at the 1961 Monte Carlo Rally. These successes, however, were not enough to redress the company balance sheet, so Citroën increased its capital investment, as well as its management control.
A Panhard 24 CT exhibited in Van Nuys, CA.
Courtesy John Peterson of Panhardusa.org.
In spite of all these problems, the heroic Panhard people managed to design yet another new model in 1962 called the 24 CT , with revolutionary styling by designer Louis Bonnier. It was a two-door coupe, since Pierre Bercot, CEO of Citroën, formally barred Panhard from producing a four-door sedan or using a bigger engine. Launched in the spring of 1963, the 24 CT won wide acclaim, but never sold in significant numbers. In 1965, Citroën took over the now hapless company completely, turning it into a subsidiary. Two years later, the decision was made to end all Panhard automobile production; the last Panhard rolled off the assembly line. As a final footnote, Citroën itself ran into severe financial difficulties as a result of basic strategic mistakes, and was eventually acquired by Peugeot in 1976. The new company, called PSA Peugeot-Citroën, is today the second biggest European manufacturers after VW-Audi.
Les Amis de Panhard & Deutsch-Bonnet in the USA
This is the American Club for aficionados of these two French marques.
It is a spirited club with links in Europe and even other continents. They publish a quaterly newsletter. For history and contacts, visit their website at www.panhardusa.org.
Congratulations on a great idea to include French cars. I am sure you
will find much to say as both cultures have shared many projects.
I would like to extend any help I can give you. I was born and raised
in France and daily drive two Alfa Romeo in the US.
Thanks,
Nick
Et al,
Great, we have some input from the most interesting cars of the world, the French ones. I have a Panahrd 24 BT (Not CT) and also two Deutsch Bonnet, plus Lancia and Citroens. This should be an interesting cite for me..thanks
Jim Bandy, Weston, West Virginia
Hello all…
Just a few words from a true D.B nut. In the fall of 1960 my dad came home with a little red D.B. In was the only car we had (family of 4) my sister and I would clime in the back of the little thing and a way we go. We had a so much fun!! we still have the car to this day and again we still are having fun with the car. The old saying” the quality will be remembered long after the price is for gotten” was a true statement in regards to the D.B’s~ a car that was 20 years a head of it’s own time.~ Just a thought.
To Jim Bandy
Dear Jim,
I am Francis and I live in France, Grenoble. I recently acquired the D.B coach 1071 (white with blue strips) you owned previously.
I am much interested to share with you regarding the car.
Would you please contact me ?
tel : +33 6 2915 3366
mail : francis.allirot@gmail.com
Best regards,
Francis
Greetings all, I’ve been a Citroen DS enthusiast since 1962 when my late father acquired a ’58 DS19 Citromatic from a Studebaker dealer in Salt Lake City, Utah, the only city in all of N. America that at one time had a Citroen DS taxi co! Still driving/restoring DSs, I’ve switched heavily to Panhards – having a ’61 PL17 cabriolet, Ex-Chrysler ’59 Dyna Z16, ’53 Dyna X87 Break, a couple of all alloy Z1 cars – one of which is straight out of the Reynolds Aluminum co. collection having been bought in Paris by one of the Reynolds brothers, and a ’65 DB Lemans roadster needing restoration. I’m hoping to master all the quirks of the flat twin and its gearbox and looking forward to the work being done by Mike Crane in the UK re re-engineering of the crankshaft. Have also acquired one of the last engines built by Tony Rodriguez of Chico, Ca., who unfortunately passed away a few yrs ago, but don’t have a car ready for it yet. Tony and his father raced Devin Panhards, and Tony had tweaked his engines to put out 80 hp when I last saw him. I believe he also may have built engines for Don Racine’s Aardvark, who a couple yrs ago at Sears Point was claiming 90 hp for his engines.
I’m always interested in talking with Panhard enthusiasts re repairs, improvements, history, younameit. I rotate between the SF Bay area and Detroit several times a yr and do all my own work on Panhards, Citroens, my Matra Djet 5S, NSU Spider, and Jowett Jupiters, so if you’ve got any of these obscure marques, I’d be interested in sharing knowledge & experiences. 248-515-9879.